Football365

Former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp insists Spurs are “bang in” relegation trouble after their 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Thursday night.

Spurs are having a disastrous season in the Premier League with the defeat against the Eagles keeping them just a point ahead of the relegation zone.

Tottenham are currently sit in 17th place in the table with Nottingham Forest and West Ham on their coat-tail ahead of an exciting final nine matches of the season.

After sacking Thomas Frank for his terrible start to the season, interim head coach Igor Tudor is not faring any better with three losses from his first three matches in charge.

And Redknapp now thinks Tottenham “could even be favourites out the four to go” down with relegation rivals Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Leeds United in better form than them.

Redknapp told talkSPORT on Friday: “Four or five weeks ago I really couldn’t see Tottenham being involved in a relegation scrap.

READ: What Archie Gray did in Tottenham defeat to Crystal Palace exposes ‘massive problem’

“Every week has gone by it’s got worse. West Ham are now playing very well which is great, Forest picked up a big point the other night, the only other side getting sucked in now is Leeds, they’ve got sucked into that battle as well, I thought they were clear because they’ve had a good season, played ever so well.

“But Tottenham are bang in it now, must be truthful. They’re looking like they could even be favourites out the four to go, it’s that desperate.”

Tudor has not minced his words in assessing Tottenham performances under his management and when asked about the interim boss’ comments, Redknapp replied: “I mean, I don’t know the man. He’s been around a long time, he’s managed at top clubs. He looks a bit of a hard nut, doesn’t he? He looks like you wouldn’t want to have a mess about with him, for sure.

“But I don’t know if that is the approach. I think that confidence obviously is low. They go out when they play at home, it seems that they they’ve not performed and they need a bit of confidence. They need a bit of belief in the team.

“They look to me like they need a arm round, have a little chat individually with every player and get them get them on side and make them start believing, ‘look go out and as best you can, try and enjoy playing football’, because at the moment they do they do look a bundle of nerves. They really do look on edge, which is dangerous.

MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…

* Six Tottenham ‘jokes’ destroyed as Igor Tudor ‘has to go’ – ‘An absolute disgrace’

* Pedro Porro ‘smashes everything’ in ‘real headloss’ but did he ‘berate Igor Tudor’? Did he f***

* Tottenham ‘broken for seven years’, club source tells BBC amid calls for ENIC to ‘sell now’

“West Ham made a couple of signings, Summerville’s come back from injury and he’s absolutely flying, him and Bowen together in the side, they’ve got a centre-forward now. West Ham are starting to believe, their crowd are amazing, they’ll stay with them. I could see them getting themselves out of trouble. They did look dead and buried five weeks ago.

“Forest are picking up one or two results, they got some decent players, they played three at the back the other night, looked physically strong, they’ll be difficult to beat.

“Leeds don’t deserve to be there, they’ve played very well this year, they had a go in every game, the games you’ve watched where they’ve led and been pegged back last minute don’t seem to have gone their way. But I think I think Forest, you know, got every chance of staying up. So Tottenham are bang in it. There’s absolutely no doubt about that at the moment.”

When asked if he would accept an offer from Tottenham to return as manager if they asked him, Redknapp responded: “Of course I would have to, wouldn’t I? But it’s not going to happen.

“No, I can’t see that happening. I think I’ll be at Cheltenham on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

“Wednesday I’ve got a runner, Taurus Bay, he runs in the first race on Wednesday. He’s got a chance, a 20/1 shot, it’s an open race but he’s got a shot.”

Joe Cole insists what Archie Gray did for Tottenham vs Crystal Palace on Thursday highlighted a “massive problem” for Spurs in their relegation scrap.

Gray provided an excellent assist for Dominic Solanke to give Spurs the lead, but the hosts then capitulated in staggering style.

Micky van de Ven hauled Ismaila Sarr down in the box to conceded a penalty that the Palace winger converted and was show a red card for denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Jorgen Strand Larsen put Palace ahead in first-half stoppage-time and there was still enough time before the break for Sarr to put the visitors 3-1 up and push Spurs and Tudor further into crisis.

There were few positives for Spurs as the defeat was Tudor’s third in three games at the helm and leaves them just one point above the relegation zone.

But both Peter Crouch and Joe Cole were full of praise for Archie Gray, who excelled and exposed a “massive problem”.

Crouch began: “I look around there now, and I think Archie Gray was the best player on the pitch for Tottenham. he is a young lad, he’s 19 years old. Where are the leaders? I know van de Ven went off, Romero is out suspended. There’s not enough leaders out there.”

Joe Cole then added: “Archie Gray played like a boy, today, who had the club in his heart. He thought ‘I’m going to lead this pitch’ and he covered every blade of grass. He stood out an absolute mile. When you have a 19/20-year-old doing that, you have a problem…a massive problem.

“They miss Maddison, he gives you quality and personality. He wouldn’t be out there hiding, but he is injured in the stands. You are searching for leaders.”

Jamie O’Hara chose instead to lambast four “Championship players” after watching his former side crumble to yet another defeat.

When asked if Spurs are going down, O’Hara, speaking on talkSPORT, replied bluntly: “Yes.

“This team is terrible. The players are terrible. They’re Championship players. They’re Championship players.

“Pape Sarr is a Championship player. Conor Gallagher. How he played for Atletico Madrid, I’ll never know. He’s been awful. He’s been absolutely awful.

“Souza, who is this kid? He looks like he’s got two left feet. Honestly, it’s embarrassing. Seriously, the team is absolutely awful.

“Mathys Tel. I could have told you. A donkey could have told you last season that he was garbage, a donkey could have told you last season that Tel was not good enough.

“He ain’t good enough. And we signed him on a permanent. It’s unbelievable.”

Barcelona have already held initial talks over the surprise signing of a Tottenham player Spurs will be banking on to win promotion back into the Premier League next season, according to reports.

There’s precious little to shout about right now at Tottenham, though it can always get worse. Spurs are staring down the barrel of their first relegation since 1977, but given the club’s resources, you’d think they’d be a shoo-in to come straight back up.

A recent report from The Athletic listed the 15 players Tottenham are expected to part ways with if they drop a division.

The outlet also cited a number of fringe and younger stars who’d walk straight into Spurs’ starting XI in the Championship, and who would be relied upon to achieve promotion at the first time of asking.

One of those named was highly-rated centre-back, Luka Vuskovic, who is currently thriving on a season-long loan at Hamburg.

But per the latest from Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, Barcelona could poach the 19-year-old Croatia international before he ever kicks a ball in a Tottenham shirt.

Taking to X, Plettenberg wrote: “FC Barcelona are closely monitoring Luka Vuskovic and have added him to their shortlist for the summer.

“Hansi Flick appreciates him. Initial talks have already taken place. Hamburger SV are pushing for a second loan.

“Tottenham’s clear plan is to bring the 19 y/o gem back in the summer.”

Of course, the simplest way for Spurs to avoid yet another nightmare scenario is by avoiding relegation. They sit one point clear of the relegation zone with nine games remaining.

Igor Tudor has shown little in his three matches so far to suggest he’s the man to guide Tottenham to safety, and yet more change is reportedly on the horizon.

Our colleagues over at TEAMtalk have been informed Tottenham are giving serious consideration to firing Tudor before their next match – a Champions League Round of 16 clash with Atletico Madrid.

Spurs bosses are beginning to acknowledge they got the Tudor appointment wrong, while signs of the players and fans not buying in are there for all to see.

Sources also explained it’s club icon, Robbie Keane, who Tottenham are likely to turn to if Tudor is fired.

At the very least, the return of Keane would get the increasingly disillusioned fans back on side and prevent the mass early exoduses we saw in the stands against Crystal Palace on Thursday night.

The Irishman scored 122 goals in two spells at the club and has earned rave reviews in his brief managerial career so far at both Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ferencvaros.

One Spurs star decided to ‘berate’ Igor Tudor while another ‘broke’ their ‘silence’, sadly not on his decision to become a fourth official.

We also have an ‘ex-Tottenham star’ hosting his own half-time walk out in tribute to the future Championship club.

While Kylian Mbappe is treading a dangerous, Raheem Sterling-adjacent path which should have us all worried.

Sol searching

The imminent relegation of Spurs is great fun and it is easy to get carried away as a result but there is no excuse for this sort of nonsense from the Daily Express website:

‘Dominic Solanke breaks Tottenham dressing room silence after Crystal Palace embarrassment’

The ‘silence’ lasted less than an hour, and was ‘broken’ at the first available opportunity in a post-match interview with Solanke still in his full kit. Bore off.

Porro form

But that is nothing compared to this doozy from talkSPORT:

‘Pedro Porro appears to berate Igor Tudor as he smacks bench in furious rage’

It is a headline somehow both unequivocal and vague. The ‘appears to’ is pure tabloidese, a crutch allowing them to heavily imply rather than outright state something happened and thus avoid any nasty consequences down the line.

Yet there still needs to be an element of truth to the story, a suggestion that Pedro Porro did indeed ‘berate’ his manager. You can’t just say ‘Mikel Arteta appeared to curl one out in the middle of the Etihad pitch’ without some evidence.

And how quaint that it is a caption to the first picture which undermines the entire construct of the article:

‘Porro appeared to berate the fourth official after he was taken off in Spurs’ latest loss’

Mediawatch would not put it past Spurs for their failing interim coach to transform into a lambasted fourth official during a game in a showcase of peak Spursiness, but it already appears as though Porro did not appear to berate Tudor at all.

How unfortunate that it takes until the ninth paragraph for the truth to be revealed:

‘As Porro left the field, though, he turned back in his manager’s direction to berate the fourth official.

‘He could be seen shouting back at Ruebyn Ricardo as the official pointed towards the bench in an attempt to calm the Spanish defender down.’

So that headline is just an outright lie? The story was published at 10.23pm on Thursday evening and updated at 8.12 the following morning, but the claim that ‘Pedro Porro appears to berate Igor Tudor’ is still there by Friday lunchtime and presumably continues to rake in the clicks.

O my word

Without wanting to look beyond the absolute surface level of Jamie O’Hara ‘storming out’ live on talkSPORT (just before an ad break) at being teased by Jason Cundy in an Ange Postecoglou mask, this is quite clearly a step too far in the description of the incident from The Sun website:

”Pointless doing a show with you’ – Ex-Tottenham star walks out of talkSPORT slot after old side’s defeat to Palace’

‘Ex-Tottenham star’? With 34 Premier League appearances for them in six years? Fewer than Mathys Tel, Jake Livermore and Ryan Sessegnon? Absolutely not.

Awful impediment

The instinct is to think that Martin Lipton might have been stitched up with this Sun headline:

‘Scholes, Neville and Keane have formed a punditry hit squad on Michael Carrick – they could stop him getting Man Utd job’

But there, eight paragraphs deep, is this incriminating line:

‘Indeed, even some die-hard United fans are now asking if the biggest impediment to Carrick’s chances of taking the helm full-time is the opinions of the influential old boys.’

It feels like losing to a Newcastle side reduced to ten men for an entire half and previously on a run of one win in seven Premier League games might actually be ‘the biggest impediment’ to Carrick getting the permanent job, even if Paul Scholes does insist on being weird.

In for the Kyl

The media has, for some time now, collectively struggled to decide what a footballer should do with their money.

The days of Raheem Sterling being criticised for spending too much on a house, too little on flights and never precisely the right amount on everything in between have thankfully passed. But the quest goes on to find out what the tabloid media deems acceptable.

And how unfortunate that said quest continues to revolve specifically around how successful young black men spend their money.

‘Kylian Mbappe spotted driving modest £35,000 car despite earning staggering £12.8MILLION-a-year salary’ – MailOnline.

‘Kylian Mbappe spotted driving modest vehicle after passing driving test at 27, despite having stunning supercar fleet’ – The Sun.

‘Spotted’! As if he should somehow be ashamed in some way! And you can almost taste the impotent fury on both the occasions ‘despite’ is used there.

Please, Kylian, do not buy your mum a house any time soon. Yes, we know you earn a staggering £12.8m-a-year salary, but still.

Best show of perspective of the day

‘Marseille fans left fuming by what Mason Greenwood did during embarrassing defeat’ – The Sun website.

Standing away from the team during a penalty shoot-out is definitely the worst thing Mason Greenwood has ever done. Good to see those fuming Marseille fans have their priorities right.

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur are ‘now willing’ to ‘change’ their plans regarding Igor Tudor and could be ‘forced’ to sack him.

Tudor is only three games into his reign at Spurs, but there is already talk of the former Juventus boss losing his job.

Under Tudor, the north London side have shown very little sign of improvement and have been deservedly beaten by Arsenal, Fulham and Crystal Palace.

Spurs were under pressure to respond against Palace as West Ham beat Fulham on Wednesday to move to within a single point of their London rivals, but Tudor’s side produced another nothing performance.

Tudor has penned a deal until the summer and been tasked with guiding Spurs to safety, but he has had no impact and a new report from our pals at TEAMtalk claims the board are ‘willing’ to ‘change’ their manager plan.

READ: Spurs doomed for relegation under Tudor as worst self-destruction yet sparks ineffective ‘headloss’

The report explains:

‘Tottenham’s initial plan had been to appoint a short-term manager to steady the ship until the summer, allowing the club time to properly assess long-term options – particularly with the possibility of structural changes and new leadership at boardroom level.

‘However, we understand that the club’s current hierarchy are now willing to put that plan aside if results do not improve, with the door open for another managerial appointment before the end of the campaign.’

The same report also states that the club are ‘assessing replacements’, with club legend Robbie Keane ’emerging as the leading contender’ to take over.

And a report from Pete O’Rourke for Football Insider claims Spurs ‘could be forced into a sack decision’ if “thing don’t improve and they drop into the bottom three”.

“Well, it wouldn’t be what Tottenham want to do. They obviously brought in Igor Tudor as a firefighter to try and get them out of trouble,” O’Rourke told Football Insider.

“He had a tough start with his first game against North London rivals and league leaders Arsenal, they obviously lost that game, then lost to Fulham.

“As long as they’re not getting results, pressure and scrutiny is going to build on Igor Tudor.

“He’s not been shy in his press conferences, he has left it on the line and been quite honest about the situation Tottenham find themselves in.

“The Palace game was huge after West Ham closed to within a point of Tottenham, and obviously Nottingham Forest got a big point against Man City.

“Spurs, ideally, don’t want to have to make a managerial change, but if things don’t improve and Spurs drop into the bottom three, the club might be forced into it.”

Conor Gallagher was one of four “Championship players” to feel the wrath of Jamie O’Hara after Tottenham’s defeat to Crystal Palace on Thursday.

The 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Thursday leaves Tottenham just one point above the relegation zone as thousands of Spurs fans left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in their droves long before the final whistle.

Spurs took the lead when Dominic Solanke smartly diverted Archie Gray’s cross past Dean Henderson, but th hosts capitulated in staggering style.

Micky van de Ven hauled Ismaila Sarr down in the box to conceded a penalty that the Palace winger converted and was show a red card for denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Jorgen Strand Larsen put Palace ahead in first-half stoppage-time and there was still enough time before the break for Sarr to put the visitors 3-1 up and push Spurs and Tudor further into crisis.

When asked if Spurs are going down, O’Hara, speaking on talkSPORT, replied bluntly: “Yes.

“This team is terrible. The players are terrible. They’re Championship players. They’re Championship players.

“Pape Sarr is a Championship player. Conor Gallagher. How he played for Atletico Madrid, I’ll never know. He’s been awful. He’s been absolutely awful.

“Souza, who is this kid? He looks like he’s got two left feet. Honestly, it’s embarrassing. Seriously, the team is absolutely awful.

“Mathys Tel. I could have told you. A donkey could have told you last season that he was garbage, a donkey could have told you last season that Tel was not good enough.

“He ain’t good enough. And we signed him on a permanent. It’s unbelievable.”

O’Hara earlier insisted that Igor Tudor “has to go” and labelled his former club “an absolute disgrace”.

He shouted on talkSPORT: “The manager’s got to go. He’s got to go. Get rid of him.

“He’s lost three games on the bounce. We are the only team in the Premier League ever to bring in a new manager to get a new manager bounce and we get a worse bounce.

“Honestly, he’s a joke, this club is a joke, the owners are a joke, the players are a joke, the recruitment’s a joke, the staff are a joke, the manager’s a joke.

“Everything about the football club is an absolute disgrace. Honestly, I’m hurting, I’m actually hurting. It hurts.

“I didn’t think it would hurt, because I was like, we’ve had some good moments, won the Europa League last season.

“This is just awful. This is so bad. This is the worst I’ve ever felt as a Spurs fan, ever.”

Dominic Solanke admits the Tottenham team held a dressing room summit after their damaging 3-1 home loss to Crystal Palace on Thursday night, a result which club legend Peter Crouch admits leaves them ‘bang in trouble’.

With just nine games remaining in the Premier League season, Spurs sit a point above the relegation but are in complete freefall after suffering a third defeat in a row under interim coach Igor Tudor. The new manager bounce is clearly not applicable in N17.

Indeed, Tottenham have now failed to win any of their last 11 outings and will also be without skipper for the night, Micky van de Ven, for the trip to Liverpool on March 15 after his red card against Palace. At least Cristian Romero will be back for the Anfield clash, though.

Tudor was strangely bullish after the one-sided contest, admitting: “After this game I believe in [them] more than before, maybe it sounds strange but this is it. I saw something in the team, I saw that there is something, even now in the dressing room after the game.

“When we will be complete and I choose the right guys, it will be good I believe. I saw something, some good energy, some wish to do, some passion. The fight, I saw it was there.”

And now Solanke claims the squad engaged in honest conversations regarding their current predicament.

“We’ve just had a big conversation.

“We know the position we are in is definitely not where we want to be so we need to figure out how we are going to get out of it as soon as possible.

“We know there’s been difficulties but we’re not in a position to make any excuses anymore.

“We need to do the job on the pitch. It is easy to say we want to be better but we want to be better on the pitch. We need to fight and realise the position we are in.

“We know the club is not used to being in this position so we need to understand it and understand it’s not going to be easy and we need to fight every single game, every single minute, to make sure we improve.”

Meanwhile, former Spurs striker Crouch was critical of the squad strength, given the number of players still missing, adding: “I don’t think there is quality. The best players are out injured.

“Tottenham are bang in trouble. I look at Manchester United and they looked to Michael Carrick, he has managed to get a tune out of those players straight away. Tudor is a massive gamble.

“There are no players who have come through from the youth team, players who know the club.

“Archie Gray was the best player for Tottenham, and he’s 19 years old. There aren’t enough leaders out there.”

Tottenham Hotspur have been told that West Ham United star Crysencio Summerville “could be the reason” they get relegated this season.

Tottenham‘s chances of suffering relegation from the Premier League are increasing by the day, with their situation worsening this week.

Following their damaging 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace on Thursday night, Igor Tudor‘s side are only one point clear of the relegation zone and are arguably the worst-performing team in the Premier League at the moment.

Injuries have ravaged the Spurs, but their available group of players is still capable of much more than they are currently producing, as they have been ineffective across all departments.

The north London side are also showing very little sign of fight as West Ham and Nottingham Forest have looked stronger than their relegation rival in recent weeks.

READ: Spurs doomed for relegation under Tudor as worst self-destruction yet sparks ineffective ‘headloss’

For much of this season, the bottom three has looked set in stone as West Ham, Burnley and Wolves seemed doomed, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have significantly improved in recent months.

The Hammers have moved to the brink of exiting the relegation places after Wednesday night’s huge 1-0 win against Fulham, with the fine form of Summerville making a significant impact.

Summerville looked destined to be a flop following his move to West Ham from Leeds United, but his performances have dramatically improved of late. His winner against Fulham was his fifth goal in eight Premier League games.

Now, former Premier League striker Troy Deeney has named Summerville in his team of the week and speculated that he “could be the reason” Spurs get relegated.

“It feels like week after week we are talking about this guy. He has been fantastic for West Ham, cutting in on his right foot, and scoring goals,” Deeney said in his BBC Sport column.

“He might be one of West Ham’s better buys, which is interesting because people thought he was a waste of time earlier in the season.

“He has come in and is now doing really well – getting the winner at Fulham on Wednesday. Could he be the reason why Spurs go down?”

After the loss to Crystal Palace, Tudor strangely claimed that he now “believes more” that Spurs can survive in the Premier League this season.

“I will tell you now, maybe it will sound strange, but I believe more after this game than I believed before. I saw something,” said Tudor.

“I need to choose the right guys because the boat is going in the direction that I want to go, and needs to go, and who is in the boat can stay. Otherwise they can leave the boat.

“When players come back I’m sure we will have a good team and the victories will come. It’s not easy to accept the moment where we are now – but it is how it is.”

Igor Tudor “has to go” after suffering a third defeat in three as Tottenham boss as Jamie O’Hara let loose on six Spurs “jokes” and “an absolute disgrace” of a football club.

The 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Thursday leaves Tottenham just one point above the relegation zone as thousands of Spurs fans left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in their droves long before the final whistle.

Spurs took the lead when Dominic Solanke smartly diverted Archie Gray’s cross past Dean Henderson, but th hosts capitulated in staggering style.

Micky van de Ven hauled Ismaila Sarr down in the box to conceded a penalty that the Palace winger converted and was show a red card for denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Jorgen Strand Larsen put Palace ahead in first-half stoppage-time and there was still enough time before the break for Sarr to put the visitors 3-1 up and push Spurs and Tudor further into crisis.

Pedro Porro was seen “smashing everything” after being substituted in the second half and Tudor bristled when asked about the “pressure” of the job after the game.

O’Hara insists his former club are “an absolute disgrace” and is “actually hurting” as Spurs drift powerlessly towards relegation.

He shouted on talkSPORT: “The manager’s got to go. He’s got to go. Get rid of him.

“He’s lost three games on the bounce. We are the only team in the Premier League ever to bring in a new manager to get a new manager bounce and we get a worse bounce.

“Honestly, he’s a joke, this club is a joke, the owners are a joke, the players are a joke, the recruitment’s a joke, the staff are a joke, the manager’s a joke.

“Everything about the football club is an absolute disgrace. Honestly, I’m hurting, I’m actually hurting. It hurts.

“I didn’t think it would hurt, because I was like, we’ve had some good moments, won the Europa League last season.

“This is just awful. This is so bad. This is the worst I’ve ever felt as a Spurs fan, ever.”

According to reports, Spurs have ‘two’ top targets in mind as potential replacements for Igor Tudor, while a ‘dark horse’ is in the frame.

The north London outfit are in a dire situation as they are without a Premier League win in 2026 and sit only one point clear of the relegation zone.

West Ham piled pressure on Spurs by beating Fulham on Wednesday night, but Tudor‘s side failed to respond on Thursday as they were deservedly beaten 3-1 at home by Crystal Palace.

Spurs hit the self-destruct button after taking the lead through Dominic Solanke. In the space of seven minutes before the interval, Micky van de Ven got sent off and Palace scored three goals to turn the game on its head.

The game was done at this point and the mood inside The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium turned toxic as Spurs’ relegation fears increased.

READ: Spurs doomed for relegation under Tudor as worst self-destruction yet sparks ineffective ‘headloss’

This was only Tudor’s third game in charge since replacing Thomas Frank and is yet to inspire an upturn in form/performances, with it already being suggested that his job is at risk.

Tudor has only penned a contract until the summer, and it’s currently hard to see him lasting beyond the end of this season.

A report from GiveMeSport claims Mauricio Pochettino and Roberto De Zerbi are currently the ‘two main candidates’ to replace Tudor, though club legend Robbie Keane is a ‘dark horse’.

As per the report, Keane is especially ‘one to watch’ if Spurs suffer relegation, with competition from elsewhere and a reduced budget to limit their chances of landing Pochettino and De Zerbi if they go down.

If Spurs do land Keane, he could link up with fellow club legend Glenn Hoddle, who has expressed his interest in returning to Spurs.

When asked whether he would be open to returning to Spurs during an appearance on the It Could be Magic podcast, Hoddle said: “I think it would actually. Particularly with Tottenham, as that’s my club.

“I’ve supported them since I was eight years of age. So they were a massive part of my life.”

Hoddle also insisted that he could be lured back if he was offered a supporting role under Keane.

“Robbie’s doing great as a young manager. So to have a steady springboard and someone experienced like myself that would be a good formula, in many ways,” Hoddle added.

“I think it’d be a shrewd move to have somebody, whether it was me or somebody experienced with him. Because the question would be: Is Rob ready to go into that sort of job now?

“Although in saying that, I went into my first management job at 30. What was I, 34? Yeah, 34. So I was very, very young.

“So you have to take that leap at some stage and you sort of learn on the job. But if you can learn on the job and have some experience around you, looking back, I could have done with that a hell of a lot.”